Where are you from, originally, and/or currently?

I was born and raised in rural, northwestern Pennsylvania. I moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2015, then to Estherville, Iowa in 2017 (small rural town 8 miles from Minnesota), and Taylor, Arizona in 2020. I am currently residing in Las Cruces and working remotely while my husband attends Burrell College of Ostepathic Medicine (he is in his final year of study before rotations). We have children too young to vaccinate.

What is your educational background and what makes you great at your job?

I have a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Edinboro University, as well as my teaching certificate in 7-12 English and pre-K-12 Library Media Specialist, and my Master's of Education in Middle and Secondary Instruction. I also have my Master's in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

When I was small, my whole family lost their job when the factory closed, and then when I was eight, my mother became the first person in our family to attend higher education. I was the next and last on her side of the family (my dad's side has a couple people). My father always worked two jobs. Money was always tight for my parents, but we knew we had more than others, some of our neighbors didn't have running water or electricity. 

I struggled to find my footing after college. My family had no advice on finding professional employment. My dad's advice was that Walmart paid well and the job at the factory as a receptionist was a good job (rather beside the point, neither suited my desire to use my education and become something more than what the world seemed to offer my family). 

I have worked and volunteered regularly in public and private schools, as well as school, public, and academic libraries (community college and university). These experiences have allowed me to grow into my current position. I have been an administrator since 2017. 

I have also worked as a housekeeper, server, farmer (I ran my family's dairy farm in the early 2000s), enumerator for the Census Bureau, a data collector for the Department of Education Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), and as a homebound instructor. These jobs were no less important in what makes me great at what I do. They gave me different skill sets, to be sure, but ones that are quite pertinent. And I think the range also gives me insight in a variety of backgrounds that our students face. 

What do you love about your job? 

I absolutely love knowing that I am a piece of someone else's journey, be they someone I supervise or someone I teach. I have taught College 101 and Library Orientation (both one credit courses) online through my institutions. I love the interaction in these, but also in sessions where faculty bring us into their course (all faculty can request these sessions--and direct the content of these sessions to meet the needs of their students). With my staff, I know that sometimes we are just a step in their journey, but I love that I am able to help them take the next step. I feel proud of their accomplishments. 

Part of my job is also about teaching and conducting research (each and every time someone asks a librarian for information, it feels like a treasure hunt to us). I love this! I love finding the information that someone needs.  And I always hope that I am helping them to find the skills to be a lifelong learner. I want them to be able to research the purchase of a car or a house, or to be able to find and research for a potential job. I see the bigger picture for them. Teaching the steps in the research process for a paper is not all together different than the steps in other types of research. To be a good citizen means that you have developed the critical thinking skills necessary to explore potential candidates in elections and to understand the issues being discussed in politics and beyond. It is amazing to be a helper in this learning and knowledge acquisition. 

What areas in this job are your strong points and how will this make you a great resource? 

I love working with my staff (they are really awesome!). I am good with the big picture of the libraries, but also the minute details. I like to working out the nitty-gritty little pieces, like updating the code somewhere (such as in our Subject Guides). But I also like planning, like our push for Learning Commons--which are communal spaces that include our libraries with individual and group study spaces, and possibly testing, tutoring, snacks and lounge areas, or other services that students need to grow and develop, and to be a part of a culture of learning. These things are so exciting to me. And somehow they all come together. And this is my favorite part---pulling together various ideas, forces, and people and making it work. This is the idea behind the Lunch and Lead groups at the beginning of this newsletter. We can all be a force for good in our world. It doesn't take someone special. We all have something to give back to the world.

I believe strongly that our world would better if we follow three basic principles: kindness, honesty, and generosity. I try to incorporate these into my work each and everyday day. Sometimes we forget. We are busy. We feel overwhelmed. But I ask my staff to be rainbows in someone else's cloud (see the ODDS and ENDs below). We cannot always be our best selves,  but we can always do our best in each moment.

What are your favorite things to do/eat/read?

I love to cook and bake. My family approaches vegan (and mostly strays by eating the occasional cheese or dairy), or even less often, salmon (David counters that the salmon will die anyways. . . ). We eat primarily a whole food, plant-based diet. So I am able to create a wide range of foods for my family. In our fridge we have lentil veggie soup, lasagna (that pesky cheese), and a colorful salad. We have whole grain peach cobbler and later today I will bake whole wheat bread. We love Mexican and Indian food especially. But creating these meals is both art and science, and provides me with a sense of calm in an otherwise crazy world. It is theraputic and comfort-giving, both in the creation and the consumption.

I also love reading and writing fiction and other forms. But I primarily read non-fiction. And I love attending our Readers and Writers Book on the first Thursday of each month to discuss whatever we each reading, and the Data Nerds Book Club on the third Thursday of the month to dicuss a college-related book. Books are windows into other worlds and other people's lives. They let each of us experience worlds beyond our own, and see every day items and happenings from someone else's perspective. 

What's something you want to do once the pandemic is over? 

Travel! I hope to see my almost 91 year old grandmother in Pennsylvania. So I hope the vaccine is available to my two year old son soon (my five year old should be able to get it sooner).